was a Japanese admiral in the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Heavier and taller than the average

Japanese person are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago. Japanese people constitute 97.4% of the population of the country of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 125 million people are of Japanese descent, making them one of the larges ...

, he was nicknamed "

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

" by his friends earlier in his career (after 1933, when the film ''

'' premiered).

Biography

Hara was born in Matsue city in

Shimane Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a ge ...

. He graduated from the 39th class of the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1911, ranking 85th out of his class of 149 cadets. As a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

, he served on the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

and the

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of att ...

. After his promotion to

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

, he was assigned to and then to the . After attending both torpedo school and

naval artillery Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for more specialized roles in surface warfare such as naval gunfire support (NGFS) and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) engagements. ...

school, Hara was promoted to sublieutenant and then he served on the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

, followed by the cruiser , and then the

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. However, it does not appear that he saw action. After the end of

, Hara returned to naval school again for advanced study in torpedo warfare during 1918–19. Then he served as the chief torpedo officer on the destroyer , followed by the destroyer in 1921, and then the cruiser in 1922. Hara attended the Naval Staff College in 1923–24 and then was promoted to lieutenant commander. In December 1926, Hara was assigned to his first command, that of the destroyer . He was promoted to the rank of

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in 1929, and then he served as an instructor at several of the naval ordnance schools during the early 1930s. Hara was given command of the gunboat in 1932, and he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1933. During 1933–34, Hara was assigned as the naval

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

at the Japanese Embassy in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

When he returned to Japan, Hara took command of the cruiser from November 1934 to November 1935, and next he held a number of staff positions in the

until he was promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

on November 15, 1939.

During World War II

During

, Hara was the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the Fifth Carrier Division of the

for the

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. At the tim ...

. His command contained the two brand-new

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s and . During the Battle of Coral Sea in the South Pacific, his 5th Carrier Division successfully sank the American carrier , but ''Shōkaku'' was heavily damaged by bombs and a large number of planes and pilots from ''Zuikaku'' were lost. These damages put both aircraft carriers out of the war for many months, and they both missed the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of t ...

. Meanwhile, Hara was reassigned to command the 8th Cruiser Division, containing the large, fast

heavy cruiser A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...

s and , and their escorting destroyers, during the long, bitter struggle with the Americans for the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

. Hara and his

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...

s were present for two large battles in the South Pacific: the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and the

Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, fought during 25–27 October 1942, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Santa Cruz or Third Battle of Solomon Sea, in Japan as the Battle of the South Pacific ( ''Minamitaiheiyō kaisen''), was the fourt ...

. During the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, light carrier was detached from Chuichi Nagumo's main carrier force and assigned to Hara's division with the task of attacking Henderson Field on

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

. Hara sent a strike force, consisting of six

Nakajima B5N The Nakajima B5N (, World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft, Allied reporting name "Kate") was the standard Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based torpedo bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) for much of World War II. It also served ...

bombers and 15

Mitsubishi A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-capable fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) from 1940 to 1945. The ...

fighters, which inflicted minor damage to the Allied airbase. Soon afterwards, USN aircraft from and found and sunk ''Ryūjō''. This was the last time Hara commanded a task force that included a carrier in a battle. After the large American carrier air attack on the large Japanese base at Truk (

Operation Hailstone Operation Hailstone was a large-scale United States Navy air and surface attack on Truk Lagoon on 17–18 February 1944, conducted as part of the American offensive drive against the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of Worl ...

) in 1944, Admiral Hara was assigned to replace Admiral Masami Kobayashi as the

of the Japanese " 4th Fleet", though he actually commanded the land base at Truk with no

s assigned to him. Truk was left behind by the U.S. Navy in a rear area to "wither on the vine" in isolation, rather than being invaded and occupied. (This was the fate of many Japanese bases on Pacific islands, including the large one at

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

and several on

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

.) Admiral Hara was trapped at Truk without reinforcements or fresh supplies all the way through the final surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945. Following the end of the

War in the Pacific The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

, Hara was arrested by authorities of the U.S. Navy and then taken back to Japan to be held in the

Sugamo Prison Sugamo Prison (''Sugamo Kōchi-sho'', Kyūjitai: , Shinjitai: ) was a prison in Tokyo, Japan. It was located in the district of Ikebukuro, which is now part of the Toshima 23 special wards, ward of Tokyo, Japan. History Sugamo Prison was orig ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

because he had been accused of

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

s. Hara was sent to face a

military tribunal Military justice (or military law) is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many nation-states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states us ...

on the American island of

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

, and there he was convicted along with other Japanese officers of "neglect of duty in connection with violations of the Laws of War committed by members of their command" for allowing the execution of U.S. Navy aircrewmen who had been captured during air raids on Truk. Since he was the commander of the

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

, Vice Admiral Hara was of course the highest-ranking officer from Truk to be tried for war crimes. Hara was convicted, and he was sentenced to six years in prison. He was then sent back to Sugamo Prison to serve his imprisonment. Hara's son Nobuaki graduated from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy just as World War II ended. When Hara was released from prison on April 19, 1951, Nobuaki took him home to a very small house in

. Hara dedicated the remainder of his life to securing Japanese government pensions and relief for the families of Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese servicemen imprisoned for war crimes.Bartlett, Donald, CDR USN. "Vice Admiral Chuichi Hara Unforgettable Foe". ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'', October 1970, pp. 49–55 Hara served as a Councilor of the Ministry of Justice (Japan) until his death at age 74 in 1964.Stewart, ''Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon''

Hara's sword

Shortly after the surrender in August 1945, the commander of Allied forces ordered all

Japanese sword A is one of several types of traditionally made swords from Japan. Bronze swords were made as early as the Yayoi period (1,000 BC – 300 AD), though most people generally refer to the curved blades made from the Heian period (794–1185) to the ...

s collected and turned over to the occupation forces. Many of the swords were mass-produced government issue, but some were ancient masterpieces of the swordmakers' art which had been cherished for generations. Many swords were distributed indiscriminately to American servicemen as souvenirs. Hara surrendered his family sword to the American Vice Admiral commanding the Marianas so the sword might be displayed at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

Museum in

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

. Hara was in possession of a second sword which he presented to Rear Admiral Calvin T. Durgin while Durgin was interviewing Hara as part of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey conducted immediately following the war. In 1959, Hara requested through diplomatic channels return of a family sword belonging to 85-year-old Ryūtarō Takahashi, president of the six-million-member Bereaved Families Association. The sword was one of the great blades forged in

Bizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is eastern Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of western Japan.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mimasaka no Kuni''" in . Bizen bordered Bitchū Province, ...

in the 15th century. It had been carried by Ryūtarō's son, Hikoya Takahashi. Hikoya had asked Hara to care for the sword while he was assigned to a minesweeping assignment he did not survive. Hara revealed that the sword carefully preserved in the Naval Academy Museum was Takahashi's sword, and the Hara family sword which should have been in the museum was in the possession of Admiral Durgin. Retired Admiral Durgin drove to the museum to correct the error, and the Bizen sword was delivered to the old man who had lost his son.

Portrayal in media

Chūichi Hara appeared in the 1970 film '' Tora! Tora! Tora!'' and was portrayed by Japanese actor Kan Nihonyanagi.

References

Notes

Sources

* * *

External links

* *
Surrender of Truk per USN Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hara, Chuichi 1889 births 1964 deaths People from Matsue, Shimane Japanese admirals of World War II Japanese people convicted of war crimes Prisoners and detainees of the United States military